Before I could take action against the people who participated in the uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty, the matter of Ying Zheng's burial had already made me anxious. In desperation, I had to wait until I had my hands free to deal with it.
In early spring, Ying Zheng was buried in Lishan, and the Lishan Mausoleum was capped shortly thereafter. Excluding the prisoners and slaves, the remaining 200,000 civilians who built the Lishan Mausoleum were all released to various counties.
Li Si made a special report on this matter at the court meeting before the spring equinox.
Li Si bowed to me and said: "Your Majesty, now the revised "Corporate Laws" have been fully implemented. The construction of Epang Palace has been stopped in the winter month, and all 200,000 people have returned home; the construction of straight roads has stopped some unimportant routes, and various unimportant routes have been stopped. The labor force on the straight roads between counties and between counties and Xianyang has also been reduced by half in accordance with His Majesty's request; the Lishan Mausoleum has been capped and completed today, and all civilians have been released; other projects have also been stopped or slowed down in accordance with His Majesty's request."
"However, in addition to the civilian husbands who have stopped serving, there are also craftsmen responsible for the project, prisoners, and slaves who cannot be accommodated temporarily. I would like to ask your Majesty to inform you."
After hearing Li Si's words, I asked, "How is the reaction in Great Qin about this matter?"
Li Si replied: "Your Majesty's benevolence is widely praised by the people all over the world. When I announced the emperor's order to release the civilian husbands who were serving in the army and went home, many people looked at Xianyang from a distance and saluted Your Majesty, shouting, 'Your Majesty will live forever'. Previously, I said I was still hesitant about Your Majesty's plan, but now I find that Your Majesty is actually a benevolent king."
Hearing Li Si's words, I felt a little at ease, which at least played a role in stabilizing people's hearts. Now we have to find ways to increase the population and encourage farming.
Thinking of this, I said: "As long as the people live and work in peace and contentment, I will have some peace of mind."
"How to arrange the craftsmen, prisoners, and slaves that the Prime Minister mentioned. Bai Chong, you were previously the right school commander in charge of the construction of Afang Palace, and now you have been promoted to the post of General Shaofu. What do you think?"
Bai Chong immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the prisoners and slaves be sent to Yunzhong County and Baiyue. On the one hand, they can replace the people who are building the Great Wall and cultivating Baiyue. On the other hand, they can also solve their problems." As for the resettlement issue; as for the craftsmen, I suggest that they be dismissed as well and allowed to return home to farm. I wonder what your Majesty would like?"
I nodded and said: "Yes. However, I have an idea for those craftsmen. Da Qin can establish a general mansion and put it under your control, and place these craftsmen in the general mansion."
"I often have some ideas, which must be of great benefit to my country, Da Qin. These people can turn my ideas into reality. In addition, I have already identified the officials who will be in charge of the government, so I asked the craftsmen from Lishan to bring in the good things. He Xian made the order for the Lord. I wonder what you guys think?"
Feng Quji stood up and said, "I think it's very good. Your Majesty has previously developed pulleys, horseshoes, etc., which have greatly assisted the construction and cavalry of our Great Qin. Now horseshoes have not been popularized, but the effect has been seen in the army. Pulleys have become popular all over the world, and I agree with your Majesty's proposal."
The rest of the people naturally have no reason to object. Only Shusun Tong stood up and gave me eye drops again. He said nothing more than that the king should be diligent in his work and should not indulge in miraculous skills and tricks. It made me feel dizzy. I really didn’t know whether it was right or wrong to let him enter the court. wrong.
"In addition, Li Si, you need to organize the prisoners and slaves to reclaim wasteland, and don't directly give them ready-made farmland. The reclaimed wasteland can be exempted from taxes for the first two years, and the government can also rent them farm tools with monthly interest. .”
Li Si accepted the order and said yes.
Later, I proposed to formally incorporate the twenty-four solar terms into the calendar. In the future, whenever the calendar is promulgated, the twenty-four solar terms must be promulgated together. Although the twenty-four solar terms have appeared at this time, they have not been systematically popularized among farmers. You must know that it has been passed down for thousands of years and can become an intangible cultural heritage. The importance of the twenty-four solar terms to agriculture is self-evident.
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Bai Chong acted very quickly, and gathered the released craftsmen to Jiang Zuofu in less than half a month. After reporting it to me, I immediately went to Shozuofu. After all, it takes time to make some things, and now I urgently need to develop productivity.
The General's Mansion was not very far from Xianyang Palace. In order to fulfill the promise of reducing corvee labor, the General's Mansion was not built separately. Instead, the abandoned government offices were briefly repaired and these people moved in.
Seeing me arriving, everyone hurriedly saluted.
Seeing He Xian and Gong Shujin, two acquaintances, I smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to be polite."
Then everyone gathered in the hall, and I looked at the more than thirty people in front of me. The hope of developing productivity lies with them. Even if I have sufficient knowledge, I have to rely on their craftsmanship to achieve it.
I took a sip of tea, put down the cup and said, "I believe Bai Chong has already told you my thoughts. I hope you can do your best, give full play to your strengths, and contribute to the Qin Dynasty and the people."
Everyone said in unison: "I am willing to serve Great Qin."
I turned around and asked Gongshujin: "Gongshujin, has the division of labor in the general office been divided?"
Gongshu Jin quickly replied: "Your Majesty, all the craftsmen from all over the country have just arrived in Xianyang today, and I haven't had time to think about these things yet."
I nodded. Although the division of labor among various departments in the Qin Dynasty was very clear, this newly established official office must divide labor according to my ideas to ensure that these people can perform their duties.
I said: "In that case, I will divide the work for you. The workshop will be divided into the following workshops: Ordnance Workshop, Agricultural Machinery Workshop, Machinery Workshop, Instrument Workshop, Inspection Workshop, Promotion Workshop, Liangzao Workshop .”
"As the name suggests, the ordnance workshop mainly produces ordnance, the agricultural machinery workshop mainly produces agricultural machinery, the industrial machinery workshop mainly produces agricultural tools, and the implement workshop mainly produces utensils for daily use;"
"The inspection workshop is used to test whether the produced tools are durable, whether they can be promoted on a large scale, etc., and the production standards must be written for the tools that have been produced and passed the test for the first time, and then handed over to each workshop to make them according to the standards, and then produce them according to the standards. Conduct spot checks on the tools, and those found to be substandard will be eliminated for rework, and the entire batch of tools with a high probability of having problems will be reworked;"
"The promotion workshop should take on the responsibility of promoting the tools produced. In addition to promoting through the government, you can also cooperate with businessmen in remote places where the government is inconvenient to promote, let the businessmen help promote it, and charge the cooperative businessmen the power to Agricultural tools are sold within a certain range, and those who sell or counterfeit them without authorization will have to go to the local government to convict them;”
"Liang Zao Fang is mainly responsible for researching new tools. In addition to the ideas I gave, Liang Zao Fang also needs to develop some new tools on its own."
Then I explained to everyone the assembly line operation method. Although there is no mechanical assistance from later generations, it can greatly improve efficiency.
Everyone also needs time to digest.
I took out the prepared drawings and instructions for saddles, horseshoes, curved plows, paper, movable type printing and other utensils and gave them to Gongshu Jin. I warned: "There will be many people engaged in production coming in in the future. I will give it to you." A lot of effort has been spent on the drawings. Except for the people from Liangzaofang, He Xian and you, they must not be leaked out. Anyone who enters Liangzaofang must be strictly checked. I will send a forbidden army to serve as the guard of the General's Mansion. If you encounter something, you can go directly to the palace to see me."
Gongshu Jin quickly nodded in agreement.
